OIP Sunshine Law Legislative Update

Governor Josh Green recently signed two bills amending the Sunshine Law into law, both of which became effective immediately.

Act 160 (HB 1597, HD1, SD1) aligns the court enforcement provisions of the Sunshine Law with those provided under Hawaii's public records law - the Uniform Information Practices Act (Modified), chapter 92F, HRS. Specifically, Act 160 (1) clarifies that members of the public may sue a board or alleged board after receiving an adverse Office of Information Practices (OIP) decision, and that the decision will be reviewed by the court de novo; (2) establishes a two-year statute of limitations to bring actions and reaffirms a complainant's right to seek review by OIP first; (3) requires that only a member of the public may recover attorney's fees and costs if that person prevails in an open meetings lawsuit; (4) requires that persons suing for Sunshine Law violations notify OIP about the lawsuit so that it may decide whether to intervene; and (5) requires Sunshine Law lawsuits that seek to void a board's final action to be prioritized by the courts.

Act 166 (HB 2482, HD1, SD2, CD1) replaces the requirement for the Lieutenant Governor or County Clerk to post meeting notices at a central location in a public building with a requirement to "ensure access" to those notices without specifying a method of doing so.

OIP is in the process of updating the Sunshine Law training materials on its website to reflect these new laws, as well as the new Sunshine Law provisions in Acts 011, 012, and 013 which OIP reported on in a What's New posted on May 22, 2024.